The Adventures of a Christian Mom, Grandma and cancer surviver!

At 9:02 a.m. we heard a very loud BANG! and our power went out; we’re guessing it was a blown transformer close by. Husband called our electric company and they gave us a 12 p.m. – 2 p.m. window for it to be fixed. Today was also a first year birthday party for a friend’s baby, so I took a shower early – totally forgetting that I have very long & THICK hair that takes many HOURS to dry (without an electric hair dryer). Spent a good hour outside at the picnic table knitting dishcloths, anything to get my hair dry. At the appointed 2 p.m. husband called the elec. company back – they told him power had been restored at NOON! We checked our outside box – totally blank screen – NOPE – guess again, NO POWER! We have one of the new outside boxes that they can check from their office and husband asked them to do that; you guessed it – they came back on saying “You’re right – you have no power.” GO FIGURE! New time line – 2-5 p.m. At about 3 p.m. I decided to experiment and attempt to curl my hair with my electric rollers (COLD) – anything to get SOME curl in my hair (it looked really stringy & bushy). Baby party was at 4; took rollers out at about 3:15 . . . the power came on right after that. . . sigh. The party was lots of fun – lots of people came with their little babies and toddlers, fun watching them playing in the wading pool or crawling on the grass. Nice party – glad I went.

It seems so strange – earlier in the week I couldn’t post because our internet would drop off because our phone line had too much static, and then today no power – guess the world might be telling me I post too much – ya think? Nawh – not possible! hehehe

I have WANTED to post several times lately BUT our phone line was down, therefore all computer-related projects were not to be had. Husband is a retired AT&T tech. and called to have them send out a tech LAST WEEK to have this fixed (tons of static/internet drops out multiple times a day); nice guy came out and agreed that YES there was ‘squirrel-gnawing on the lines’ evidence AND crossed wires” – he fixed those and hung a new drop to the house (that’s the wire that goes from the telephone pole to the house.) All was fine UNTIL THE NEXT RAIN! TONS of static (in fact it took my special needs guy I drive THREE CALLS just to tell me he didn’t need me to pick him up yesterday); crazy stuff. Now that the rain has gone, we have phone/cable again . . . go figure. Husband called it in AGAIN.

I DID get lots of knitting done – finished the blue/green/white baby blanket scheduled for June 7th baby shower – I’ll photo it for you later. Am coming down with a doozie of a cold/sinus infection-type thing – fully developed this morning. It’s been a crazy week: went for annual OB/GYN visit yesterday – all’s good there EXCEPT – doctor explained to me that with Obamacare (read that Medicare) they are now looking VERY CLOSELY at your BMI (Body Mass Index) that means how much weight you carry on your body for how tall you are. He told me that they (the govmt/insurance) wants your BMI to be 30 or under – I’m 32. He explained that for me to get there I need to lose about 12 lbs. That’s not a big deal BUT, coming in the NEAR future, IF YOU DON’T fall under the 30 mark, they could cancel your Medicare! I said: “But I have Blue Cross as my secondary insurance – wouldn’t I still be able to just go with them?” Answer: No, because once Medicare cancels you – your other insurance will follow. THAT’S NOT RIGHT! But – I can yell & scream all I want, whether you agree with me or not on this ‘Obamacare/insurance’ – it’s coming down the pike. The bad thing is: YOU DON’T HAVE A CHOICE! If you’ve read my posts months ago, I unfortunately discovered that even though I didn’t WANT Medicare, I HAD NO CHOICE! If I didn’t take it, my regular (Blue Cross/Blue Shield) insurer would NOT take me! NOT RIGHT!!! Just thought that you might like to know what’s coming – if you’re ‘of a good weight/BMI, you have nothing to worry about; but if you’re not – you might want to check this out with your doctor.

Spent a lovely THREE HOURS at the car dealership this morning getting my ‘check engine’ light checked out; turns out it was a stuck thermostat. Was also due for some routine maintenance, so I had them do that also. Yes, brought my knitting and got quite a few rows done on the other Detroit Vet’s Baby Shower afghan – that one is almost done. (Sometimes I almost wish my brain didn’t say: “Well – if that one’s done, you could always KNIT ANOTHER ONE before September – when the shower is scheduled). Crazy – but we’ll see.

This cold/sinus-thing is kicking my butt right now – lots of dry coughing, so I’ll make the ‘chat part’ short and just enter the recipes!

NOTE: You can also add fresh bean sprouts tossed with lime juice to finished cups before serving.
Recipe can also be served on a large platter with cabbage leaves, a bowl of chicken mixture & small bowls of chopped nuts & green onions.

Frosting:Beat cream cheese & butter together
on medium speed until light & fluffy,
3-4 minutes. Add conf. sugar one cup
at a time, beating well after each addition.
Beat in vanilla & continue beating until
frosting is thick & fluffy, 3-4 minutes.
Frost bars & cut into squares with large
chef’s knife, wiping the knife clean
after each cut. Makes 16 squares

(recipe: Richard-Marys Recipe Exchange)

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Yesterday we had a deluge of rain for most of the day but today it’s finally a lovely, sunny & clear day: 68 degrees F. I spotted some iris I had planted years ago; they sprung up behind a scraggly bush (which I intent to cut down soon); so glad I saw them! Our two rabbits are having a great time relaxing in our yard (husband hasn’t cut the grass there yet, so when they’re out all you can see is the tips of their ears!). Today on the way home from the car dealership I saw a full grown dear run across four lanes of traffic – no one hit it/it survived to run into a woodsy area on the other side! This is in a really built-up area: lots of stores and houses – interesting!

Today is Memorial Day and, as you can see in the drawing above, it’s NOT about picnics, parades, etc. – although those are good, too. Our Sunday School teacher yesterday voiced it well: “Find someone who is a vet or currently serving and just tell them THANK YOU!” That got me to thinking – I know of about 12 who are in our church who have served, mostly in WWII and Vietnam but I also have a sort of new friend who just got her medical discharge from the Air Force – she went through a really rough battle with breast cancer (both sides) and still kept at her job in medical appropriations! She has a great heart and loves the Lord – she makes the word “SERVING” take on a whole new meaning. On this day I want to take a moment to remember and THANK all those who served or are serving or died for our freedom.

—————————————-

Last night found me once again searching the recipes coming in to be able to give you more ‘holiday’ foods to cook! That also got ME to thinking: “What are we going to have for dinner tonight?” Bright & early I went to my big upright freezer and looked around: “Oh look – a great big package of frozen chicken legs & thighs!” (those are now warmly ensconced in my crockpot swimming in Italian salad dressing). Checking the fridge, I have enough ‘stuff’ to make a batch of macaroni salad – YAY! (macaroni is cooked & resting in cold water/8 hard boiled eggs are doing the same thing). Think I’ll give my self a little time to throw that together just a little later. Now – for dessert: located 3 cans of sliced peaches in my larder; that made me think: “Peach Dump Cake!” (peaches, dry white or yellow cake mix, 1 stick butter or margarine, melted. Throw peaches (undrained) on bottom of pan, top with dry cake mix, drizzle butter over top & bake 350 degrees F. 1 hour – YAY-DESSERT!). Sometimes scrounging around brings a bonus!

Last night I was a bit bored (NO – not me!) and was channel surfing when I happened upon the tail end of a show I used to like to watch on cable: “Devious Maids”. It’s a rather spicy (almost soap-like) show with lots of plot twists – fluffy ‘fun’. That got me to thinking: I wonder if they’ve started showing that again? That program stopped last year some time and I never saw when it started up again. Checking our local On Demand cable, turns out there were 4 programs that caught me up to now! (Yep, you guessed it – Pammie was up until 2:30 A.M. ‘catching up’!) Went to bed really tired, but that’s a good thing – fell asleep almost instantly! Sometimes ‘fluff’ shows are a fun thing.

The amount of each depends on your taste.
Mix everything EXCEPT the Cool whip together in a
large bowl, mix well then add the Cool whip last.
Divide mixture between the 2 crusts,
chill for at least about 2 hours or overnight.

(recipe: Facebook)
==========================

It’s another really lovely day out – 10:20 a.m. and it’s already 72 degrees F.! Sunny, clear blue skies – I might just take my knitting out to the picnic table and enjoy listening to the various birds singing their hearts out. While starting the macaroni salad I could hear a robin happily singing in our pine tree and then he/she was joined by a cardinal – I just LOVE hearing the various birds sing! My husband called me to the dining room window to observe our local resident chipmunk climbing up a small, rather wiry bush; not sure whathe was ‘up to’ – climbed to the end of the branch (while we were hoping he wouldn’t fall off – it was quite a drop to the ground), then turned around and went down to the ground. Perhaps he was just ‘checking out his neighbors’ – who knows?)

Have a wonderful Memorial Day – FLY THE FLAG
if you have one! Blessings;

Today is another quiet, beautiful Spring day – temperatures in the high 70’s! YES! I love this weather! Due to the holiday weekend, gas prices rose a bit – we’re up to $3.89/9 (sure hoping it drops on Tuesday, as I will be needing gas around that time!).

Last night I decided to watch TV (I don’t watch very often, only a few shows); ran into a “Pledge Drive” program but this one featured Steve Martin and the Steep Canyon Rangers and Edie Brickell. I knew Steve Martin was an excellent banjo player; he really shines in the songs he plays and has written. I’m usually not fond of Blue Grass music, but this entire program blew me away! I’d never heard of Edie Brickell (later found out she’s married to Paul Simon of Simon & Garfunkle!). She has a very gentle, easy-going voice and style – I was totally captivated! If you’re interested, here’s a clip:

*Note from poster: While you CAN
cook these beans on High for 4 hours,
I feel the flavor is better brought out
when cooked on Low for longer cooking
time. They can be cooked a day ahead &
refrigerated then warmed up when ready
to serve.

Hope you’re having a Great day!
Enjoy the weather and remember to
take a little time for yourself: take a nap,
read a book, take a walk, or even just eat
or drink something that relaxes you (no-I’m
not advocating drinking – I’m more thinking
iced coffee or a milkshake/ice cream sundae!)

Lest we not forget – this weekend is in honor of all those who served our country, are serving our country or died in the line of duty to our country. It is an HONOR that we give them our thanks and gratitude for their service.

Our weather here is perfect for outdoor cooking/picnicing, etc. I don’t have any particular holiday cooking plans, but that’s not stopping me from sharing lots of GREAT sounding recipes that come to my email! Some are new to me – a little different, but none-the-less tasty and even healthy! Enjoy perusing!

Another gorgeous Spring day – temps at 65 right now, sunny and a lovely bright blue sky – what could be better? Our grandson just went with the other grandmother for the rest of the day; it helps when we have him for half the day and they get him the other half! He had fun playing a new Lego video game my husband bought him and then he & I had fun wrestling (it’s his favorite thing – more like a tickling, wrestling, silly fun time.) It wears me out but we both enjoy it (Lord, help me when he gets bigger!)

Earlier found me on the ‘net attempting to find a crochet pattern I spotted last night on Pinterest; I’m not much for crochet, but this one was a variation on Broomstick Lace, except you don’t have to use the HUGE broomstick to make it! Very clever, I thought – only problem: the two sites that had it were ‘complicated’ – one was only photos of the steps (which I didn’t seem to be able to follow correctly) and the other was all in Russian! I looked & looked on Pinterest and Ravelry (my two go-to sites for anything knit/crochet) but was not able to find that particular pattern. Husband heard me grumbling and decided to do his own search; he just typed in what I was saying as a description of the stitch: “Broomstick Lace only smaller”. Low and behold – he found it! There are two videos on Youtube which feature it and it’s called: “Peacock Eye”. (if I had known the NAME of that particular pattern I could have done further research – but that was out of my realm of discovery.) YAY, HUSBAND!!! Quite simply, it looks like this:

This all goes back to my constant curiosity for new things/stitches/patterns. (I’m almost done with the current baby blanket and thought I’d like to find a pattern I might like to do for the next one – hence the ‘search’.) Ah, the fun of discovery – yes?

16 oz semi-sweet or milk chocolate,
chopped (or use chips)
2 T. unsalted butter, room temperature
1/3 cup confectioners sugar
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
–
In a small glass bowl, heat half of chocolate
in the microwave for 30-60 seconds. Remove
from the microwave once the chips begin to
slightly melt. Use a fork to stir until smooth,
using the heat of the chocolate to melt the
remaining chips entirely. If needed, re-heat
in 10 second intervals until smooth. DO NOT
over heat the chocolate, as it will burn and seize.

Line a muffin tin with cupcake papers. Spoon a
small amount (about 2 teaspoons) of chocolate
into the bottom of each paper. Tap the pan on
your counter top to help smooth and spread the
chocolate. Place the pan in the freezer for 15
minutes to harden the chocolate. Meanwhile,
prepare the peanut butter.

In a small bowl, beat together peanut butter,
butter and confectioners sugar until smooth and
fluffy. Remove the pan from the freezer, and spoon
a small amount of peanut butter on chocolate layer.
Again, tap on counter top to level and spread the
peanut butter. Return the pan to the freezer and
allow to harden for about 15 minutes.

Repeat the first step and melt the remaining
chocolate in the same manner. Spoon the top
chocolate layer over the peanut butter and
return to freezer.

More to come, for sure!Our weather has been ‘typical’ Michigan Spring – clear, sunny & warm one minute, chilly & grey the next with a pinch of rain thrown in just for fun! I was surprised last night while driving home from my special needs group around 9:20 p.m. that it was STILL 76 degrees! Nice! Beautiful sunset with huge, fluffy clouds – very nice! I just love that we have sun later in the day now (with daylight savings time, of course).

Made Meat & Potato pie for dinner last night; we had our middle son staying overnight for 2 days – he’s been feeling sick and said: “It’s just quieter here and I can just go to be and sleep!” He’s sure it’s not a respiratory infection, or the flu – he just feels ‘sick’. That didn’t stop him from going to college all day yesterday or getting up early today to do the same – he’s a trooper.

We’re going to get youngest son’s truck towed to a repair shop – (just been waiting on him to give us the ‘word’ to get the ball rolling. He said he didn’t want to ask us to help finance the repairs – that would be the third time since he bought the truck). He’s still working part-time for the friend/landscaper doing all sorts of heavy lifting/chopping roots & trees, etc. We’ll ALL be glad when he has a WORKING vehicle again – this driving 1/2 hour to his job is getting a bit old (but he did offer gas money!).

No particular plans for the weekend – we will have our 7 1/2 yr old grandson all day tomorrow, since he doesn’t have school. Not sure yet what we’ll do to keep him amused but I’m guessing there will be lots of board game playing in my future.

Enjoy your day, whatever the weather – remember to try to smile & have a little
FUN now & then! (I get that reminder to me from my cousin every Sunday in an email – apparently he doesn’t think I have much fun!)

Hugs;

Pammie

PS: The baby blanket is within 1 – 2 days knitting of being finished! YAY-the end is in sight!

Yep, today is a dark, ‘looks like a storm coming’ type of day – and it’s only 9:35 A.M.! Was hoping to go grocery shopping today, but that might not happen – depends on how I feel. Health-wise, I’m good – it’s just that when it’s gloomy, it sort of saps my ‘energy’ – does that ever happen to you?

Yesterday husband and I went out to lunch, using part of our Christmas gift card from our oldest son. We went to Longhorn Steak House and had a very nice meal: he had a Porterhouse steak & baked potato, I had a chicken breast with steamed broccoli and a tossed salad. We both shard a free “Sweet/spicy fried calamari” appetizer (it was OK – not exactly what I was hoping for – gotta say: Joe’s Crab Shack is the place to go for fried calamari!). Husband was even willing to stop at JoAnn’s for me to grab another big skein of the ‘baby blanket’ yarn needed to finish the one due in June. I have 2 more ‘groups’ to finish, then the final border strip – should take me about a week or maybe a little less, then I want to do a single crochet border around it in the bright green yarn. (that only leaves knitting 1-2 pairs of baby booties and I’m done with that project! YAY!) I was GOOD at JoAnn’s, knowing husband was in the car waiting – I only stopped at the yarn department, grabbed my yarn and checked out – didn’t even stop to look at any other departments!

Middle son stopped over yesterday and spent the night; he’s been moved out about a month now and having him home all day/night sort of reminded me of what it was like before: drank almost all the Orange Juice, finished off all the chicken Parmesan, basically raided the fridge – I guess that’s typical. I could tell he was happy to be where FOOD was – you never know what they’re eating on their own; heard him mention he has to start eating better/more often (not what a mother wants to hear!). I made a point of cooking the boy’s favorite: Mac & cheese & Polish sausages – he ate well.

Today is another Spring/rainy day – temperature is at 51, chilly/gloomy but I’m determined to make it a GOOD day, anyway! I have LOTS of recipes and need to get more of them out to you. Nothing much going on around here, just me frantically attempting to knit up that baby blanket. Grocery shopping, dishes, laundry all caught up, so it’s time to share recipes!

Sometimes I’m surprised at how FAST the week seems to go by; yes, granted it’s only Wednesday, but it really seems like I arrived at this day quickly! Last night was Knit/Crochet night with three new ladies; we always love welcoming new people so this was another good night (16 attending). I’m finally down to just the ‘leftovers’ of my deceased friends crafts stash and will probably take those to the senior center tomorrow for their June rummage sale. I’m happy there really isn’t much left: the Swedish weaving stuff, some liquid embroidery items, the “Bedazzler” (couldn’t GIVE that away – NO ONE wanted it!), some sequin art stuff, a Santa punch wall hanging kit, 3 printed cross stitch kits – that’s it! Oh – last night, right after I first got there I got into a conversation with a friend and, during the conversation, laid down my knitting. When I picked it back up I somehow dropped a stitch; that wasn’t so bad but it continued to get worse, ending up in my unraveling THREE rows of knitting to get back to where I could FINALLY pick it back up again! Basically just wasted my entire time there back tracking! SIGH . . . Still working on the ‘due in June’ baby afghan, about 1/3 done now. I like the way it looks; my first “Feather & Fan” knit pattern but it isn’t so bad as long as you keep track of all the stitches! The little bright green baby sweater, however, is another story. Got the parts all done and went to sew it together – the sleeves AND the hood are too small! I was so frustrated with it, am not at all sure I’ll even attempt to re-do those – sometimes it’s just better to put it away. (Told ya this was an ‘over my head’ pattern!).

Our weather has been typical Spring – sunny one moment then grey/gloomy and rain the next. It DID get up to over 80 the other day – amazing! I actually dragged out my shorts! Won’t be too long and we’ll be into summer fully. I’ve heard/read that because of the brutal winter we had that the summer temperatures might not be really high as in past years – we’ll see. I just love seeing all the flowers/bushes in bloom! I keep looking (in my travels) for a magnolia tree that has flowers as big as the ones my parents had in our yard growing up. These flowers were DINNER PLATE SIZED! No kidding! I used to love to just sit and look at them – they would only stay 1-2 days at most, then all the petals would fall off, but they were SO pretty while they were here. I’ve seen some really pretty flowering crab bushes this year (mine died off here a few years ago). Spring is such a beautiful time of year! (My favorite).